1. UK pocketbook-size magazine. Eleven issues 1950-1954 (none in 1951), numbered but undated, published irregularly by John Spencer, London; edited (uncredited) by Samuel Assael and Maurice Nahum. One of the four low-quality Spencer juvenile-sf magazines, the others being Futuristic Science Stories, Wonders of the Spaceways and Worlds of Fantasy. An associated house name was Hamilton Donne. For more information on Spencer's publications, see Badger Books. [FHP/DRL]

2. US tv series (1951-1953). ABC TV. Created and produced by George Foley, Dick Gordon. 25 minutes per episode. Black and white.

One of the earliest and most successful sf-anthology Television series, Tales of Tomorrow was ambitious but, like most television of the period, limited by the restrictions imposed by live studio shooting. It drew its material from a variety of sources, including the sf Pulp magazines, as well as using original teleplays. The first two episodes dramatized Jules Verne's Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (1870; trans as Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas1872), starring Thomas Mitchell as Captain Nemo; Leslie Nielsen co-starred. [FHP/JB]

This short-lived programme, running from 1 January to 9 April 1953, was an unsuccessful attempt to produce a radio companion to 2 above. Sponsored by Galaxy magazine, it dramatized fifteen Galaxy stories including "The Stars are the Styx" (October 1950 Galaxy) by Theodore Sturgeon and "The Girls from Earth" (January 1952 Galaxy) by Frank M Robinson, both believed lost. At least five episodes are known to survive, although not all story authors are known: "Betelgeuse Bridge" (15 January 1953), adapted from "Betelgeuse Bridge" (April 1951 Galaxy) by William Tenn; "The Other Now" (22 January 1953) from "The Other Now" (March 1951 Galaxy) by Murray Leinster; "Martians Never Die" (12 March 1953) from "Martians Never Die" (April 1951 Galaxy) by Lucius Daniel; "Morrow on Mars" (2 April 1953), original unidentified; and "The Old Die Rich" (26 March 1953) from "The Old Die Rich" by H L Gold (March 1953 Galaxy).

It is possible that some of the writers for the television series also worked on the radio programme. Several of the radio instalments were later remade as episodes of X Minus One (1955-1958). [GFi/DRL]

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